Chapter 9

Ah, young insanity

Once they had made it to Gotham, Howard immediately dropped off Tony at the front of the Wayne mansion and drove away giving the boy enough warning to barely close the door.

Knowing the jackass wouldn't look back; the furious, tired, and depressed seven-year-old kicked up some pebbles as if it was the ma-bastard himself and flipped him off with both hands as the car faded away.

Sighing, the boy picked up his bags and turned to find a certain British butler standing in front of him. There was a very small, almost nonexistent amusement in his eyes as he slapped the back of the boy's head in light reprimanding.

"I know he's a horrible creature, but that is no excuse to resort to childish antics."

"I'm seven, Alfred; I can be as immature and childish as I want." Wow, Tony didn't realize just how difficult it was to keep his voice in a light tone instead of the emotionless deadpan that he was so accustomed to speaking.

The old caretaker just let out a sigh along with an eye roll as he walked the boy to the mansion. Following the elder man to the kitchen, Alfred handed him a tray of sandwiches and chips.

"Can you take this with you to Bruce's room, and make sure he is eating. If he doesn't eat any of this then you have my direct permission use any mean necessary to get him to. If you still can't, I will go as far as to use an IV, so just please get him to eat at least one." His old eyes scanned Tony's baggy clothes as if he had X-ray vision and could see he hasn't eaten either. "And if you don't eat as well then I will personally walk up there and watch you both eat every last bite of food I give you. Understand, young master?"

"Yeah, yeah. I got it, Al. I'll make sure we both eat, don't worry about it, I got a few tricks up my sleeve." With that, he winked and left.

On the way to his only friend's room he grimaced at the platter of food. Every time he thought about even the concept of eating his stomach would give a painful lurch.

Once he made it to his friend's room he rapped the door three times causing a quiet shuffling of papers to come from the room.

"Come in." the elder boy called out as Tony walked in.

As he walked inside the room his brown eyes met with blue as the boy leaned casually against his expansive oak cabinet, wearing a nonchalant expression.

He let out a breath of relief once he saw his best friend, "It's just you." Sliding down the cabinet, he landed on the carpet with a soft thud.

Tony just continued to stare at him with a hidden frown as he wondered what his friend must be going through.

"Food?" He said hopefully, lifting up the platter of snacks and sandwiches. From the grimace on the older boy's face, he knew they shared the same thoughts about eating. Sighing he set the tray down on the nearest surface.

"I know, but Al threatened us, and he's going to know if we don't eat with his special, freaky, butler powers." Tony told the older boy, wiggling fingers.

He looked back at the older boy and blinked back in surprise when he saw him, really saw him. Past all the things that the other boy so desperately tried to hide; it would have worked too, if Tony hadn't already mastered the art of hiding the pain. There were dangerously dark bruises under his eyes, the sunken cheeks on his too pale face, and his eyes. His eyes had a hollowness and pain written all over except the spark that lighten his eyes; and not for the better. And it freaked Tony the-hell-out because he'd seen that spark once before.

'Oh God, please, please don't be the same...please.'

~FLASHBACK~

Howard had once again threaten, forced, and dragged Tony to another charity for the media. The only part that the newly aged six-year-old liked was the irony of the charity being for victims of abusive families. As he walked around the ball room, bored out of his mind, he caught a glimpse of a strange boy.

The boy looked to be about ten or eleven with a faded green and pink in his blackish-brown curly hair. At the corner of his lips were scars and scabs over lapping each other, which looked like a hideous smiles. His suit looked normal enough: worn black dress pants, a white shirt that seemed as though it was drowned in bleach but still had curios stains, and a raggedy red bow-tie. However, he did have a tweed jacket that seemed to be handmade and dyed bright purple with green elbow patches.

Curiosity getting the best of the young genius, he walked over and put on his most innocent six-year-old facade as he stuck a hand out.

"Tony Stark, pleasure to make your acquaintance." He recited from when Howard made him perfect the stupid line.

The odd boy's eyes shot to his as Tony's eyes seemed to lock with his green, but it wasn't the green that caught trapped him, it was the spark.

The hazel-green eyes flickered to each of Tony's brown ones as if he was searching for something. He must have found whatever it was because the scarred boy let out a quiet giggle that sounded a bit insane.

"Sooo, Mr. Richie-rich has seen the darkness as well?" Tony blinked back in surprise, shock, and even a bit of fear.

'I don't get it? How does he know? He's probably talking about something else. He couldn't know. I hid it too well. Even the adults can't tell. Yeah, he's probably just thinking of something else and I'm just waay of base…right?' He mentally soothed as outwardly he hoped he looked innocent enough, if not a little blank.

"I'm sorry? I don't understand? How could I not see darkness? It's everywhere?" The air of innocence was almost gag worthy.

The boy just snickered before he suddenly became cold and withdrawn as he glared at a woman who was leaving with a man on her arm that was wearing the most 'shit-eating' grin at the charity. She had neat and curly hair except for the couple of butterflies. Her dress looked almost as expensive as some of the aristocrats. Her makeup was beautifully done, as if it was done by a really expensive makeup artist. She stood straight but with a slight curve of her back as though she was overdoing and forcing a straight posture.

The cold boy abruptly changed once again as his green eyes widened and the spark dance in them as a grin crept onto his face, showing his slightly stained teeth. A shiver ran down the Tony's back as his mind screamed 'Danger! Run! Run the hell away!' But he ignored the obvious warnings his brain was trying to send and stayed rooted in his spot.

"And off goes the whore~" He sang then giggled as he turned to the other boy and patted his cheek.

"Don't worry, you'll crack soon. Even if the shell is thick, that just means it'll be a bit more scrambled. I can already see it in your eyes. Oh," He took both sides of the young boy's face. "Already so young, but yet, so determined. Determined for what? Now that-that has the answer to whether or not we will meet again."

He patted Tony's cheek once again and leaned in to whisper something in his young ears, then pushed back to flash a grin. A bright, insane, and determined glint reflected in his eyes and seemed to have capture Tony's thoughts as the crazy kid skipped out of the building after the woman and her 'partner'. His head echoing with the boy's whispered words.

"Watch the news."

~=Timey-wimey Skippidy-doda-day=~

Once he arrived back at the hotel and in his rented room the strange boy's words seemed to have gotten louder in his head.

Turning on his room's television, he turned it to the closest local news channel he could find. As if sensing, Tony had switched to their channel, the news station started on their hottest topic of the night by showing an image.

The woman from the charity; she had been brutally murdered.

He gasped as they showed an image of a bloody woman with some blur at the most gruesome parts but6 still didn't leave much to the imagination.

Her makeup was smudged with tears, blood, and other unrecognizable things. The once beautiful dress she wore was now torn and bloody. The middle-aged woman's body was covered in cuts and bruises, but the most horrifying part of the pictures was the huge bloody grin that reached from the corner of her mouth to her ears…

Almost like the boy's scars.

Wanting to know more, he turned up the volume and listened in on the reporters.

"-ree hours ago a young woman was found with a horrific smile carved into her face. The 30-year-old woman was walking home from a charity with her ten-year-old son and a man, she met at the said charity. According to the only survivor and witness, the son, who asked for him and his mother to remain anonymous, claimed that as the man she had met took out a hidden knife and threaten them.

In the report, the victim had tried to protect her son from the man, and in doing so, had gotten herself stabbed. The man then proceeded to have dragged her into some woods and threaten the son to stay quiet as the man murdered her. Once he was done, he chased the boy into the woods, until the son lost him in the woods and had found his mother's bag and cellphone along the way.

This is the 911 call:

911, what's your emergency?

Oh God, Oh My God! (Tony's eyes widen at the familiar voice)

Sir? Sir, please calm down.

He killed her! He Freaking KILLED Her!

Sir, please calm down. Where are you? What happened? Who is he?

I don't know! My mom just invited him to come along, but then he- then he-

what is your location? Where is he?

No, I-I lost him. But I don't know where he is! I don't Know where I am. It's by a street, outside of the wood somewhere. I-(There was a choked sob as his voice struggled to stay leveled.)

Don't worry sir, I'm tracking your location, the police are on their way.

Mom's dead! She's dead. The screaming...The blood... Oh god, she's really de-dead.

Please calm down. Can you hide somewhere until the police come, in case he comes back?

(There were a few calming breaths as he began to talk again) Okay, okay. Yeah, there's a-a bush, I guess.

That's a good place sir. Just stay on the phone please. Just until the police get there.

There was just so much- so much blood, and she just screamed and screamed.( He spoke soft and shakily, as if reliving the memory)He wouldn't stop. Oh god, he just wouldn't stop. He was just so-sodetermined.

Tony clicked the power button, not able to take anymore. That boy did it. That crazy, strange, insane kid had killed his own mom. Tony could only sit on the edge of his bed, staring at the black screen as if showing the boy's face and his mad twinkle.

He would never tell anyone what happened, who he met, what the boy did. But he could only wonder who he had met. How did he know about him? Why was he so interested? What did he want?

What did he see?

~=End O' Flashback=~

He came back to the present and realized that he was still staring at Bruce.

Awkwardly turning his attention back to their food he couldn't stop the pain of worry in his heart. He hoped his only best friend wouldn't go crazy with whatever he was determined about.

"Are...are you okay?" Tony asked hesitantly.

"Yeah…" Bruce answered, watching the younger boy with a scrutinizing look, as if to see if he was worthy.

"Remember the game we played a couple of times. Where we tried to be detectives and find the Robison's lost cat?"

"Um, yeah?" Tony questioned; not quite sure where this was going.

The black haired boy let out a sigh as he pinned Tony with a piercing gaze.

"I'll let you in it, but, you cannot tell anyone. Give me your word this stays between us."

Tony mentally snorted 'Who the fuck would I tell?'

"Fine Bruce, I'll give my word." Then let a smirk appear on his face before it became deadly serious. "I, Tony Stark, give my word to not tell a soul of what will transpire between us. And if I, somehow, tell from assassins or government force, have the universe's greatest power strike me dead. So mote it be." He let his serious mask fall into a mocking smile. "That good enough for you, princess; or would you like a blood oath too, or my full name?" Even behind all his mocking and joking Bruce could hear the sincere promise behind his words.

The younger boy observed Bruce as he took out a hand-full of papers that had marks all over.

"Uh...Brucie? What didI promise I wouldn't tell?"

"I-I don't actually know yet." He truthfully told the other boy, "But, I know I have the basics. I know the majority of what's going on...I think...I hope."

He gave a frustrated sigh at the look Tony was giving him.

"Tony, I know I sound crazy, like one of those conspiracy nuts. But, something's going on, I just know it. I-I think it's connected to the murder of my parents. My parents, Tony! Just-here look at these."

He picked up a hand-full of documents and shoved them in Tony's face. The latter boy, slightly confused and scared for Bruce, raised a hand and lowered the hysterical boy's arms to look him in his tired blue eyes.

"Brucie-bear, would you just hold on a second. What do mean it's all connected? Where did you even get all these Documents? They look really important." He whispered as an afterthought, because they looked like the ones Howard would stress over for weeks then punish Tony for 'contaminating' with his breath.

"It means that I can Help! I can do Something! I can get him! And-and probably help future victims! Or at least- at least avenge my parents, get some justice!"

"BRUCE! Y-you're a fucking eight years old! Do you even know what people can do to eight-year-old boys if they stick their nose in places! Do you know what could happen to you?!" Tony hysterically screamed, thinking of when Howard brought him to a bad part of town to show what would happen if he ever ran away or was dropped off if he did something really bad.

"What? I would lose everything? I would lose the two people who loved me more than anyone? And I know, Tony, I've thought about this a lot. I thought you, at least out of anyone youwould have supported me! I just want-no-I needto have closure about this. To have some justice." Bruce stared fiercely at the other boy; not giving and sign of standing down anytime soon.

He didn't have to, because Tony was the one who seemed too tired to fight and released almost his tension and soften his expression. He was still slightly tense under the determination and fury in Bruce's blue eyes.

"I-I know, and I'm sorry. But your parents died two nights ago, Bruce. Only two-fucking-nights. You shouldn't be doing this." He didn't want Bruce to go through this fantasy of conspiracies and become insane like...him. It was probably the wrong thing to say when Bruce's determination and fury tripled.

"How do you want me to act then? Do you want me to cry? Do you want me so do nothing? To just let the police do their job? Which, by-the-way, they have been slacking and 60% of the bad guys escaped from custody or they simply let them go saying there was a "mistake". And I use the quotation mark because there is real, factual proof. See." He shoved more papers in Tony's small arms

"This doesn't even- wh-" Tony let sigh and looked up at Bruce's fierce blue eyes, "Alright, I'll do this with you. Be it easy or hard,-"

"-good or bad,-"

"-dangerous or safe,-"

"-hot or cold,-"

"-any day-"

"-any night,-"

"-any weather,-"

"-there's Tony and Bruce-

"-together-"

"-Forever." They said the last part in unison and held so much meaning for the two lonely boys, who had lost so much.

"Thanks." They smiled at each other as Bruce gracefully sat down.

"No prob, Brucie-Wucie" Tony not-so gracefully plopped down. "After all, I need to make sure you don't become crazy on me." He joked lightly and the serious and bit of fear went completely unnoticed.

"Soo...what do you have so far? Wait, let me guess, aliens? Special Organizations? Illuminati? Bigfoot? The Government?" He mocked

"Well... "Bruce trailed off giving Tony a look.

"Ugh. Well, what's a good conspiracy without the government involve, right? Huh, since we're really doing this might as give me a run down. So what was the thing about "mistakes" that let out 40% of the prisoners or something?

"60%." Bruce corrected airily, as if he was still accepting that Tony had still agreed. Snapping out his trance, he started to grab seemingly random papers that were scattered around.

"You see these articles? They're about the rise in crimes. And -and this one is on the people that were actually arrested. And read this" He grabbed behind him and shoved another paper in Tony's arm without looking then jabbed his small finger at a highlighted sentence from a seemingly reallyimportant document. "It says that cops are getting bribed. And what if my parent murder gets off free? I can't let that happen. And there are lots of murders, and all the witness describes the man like the one from that night." Now he shoved crumpled news articles in the other boy's already full hands.

"Have you considered that it was just a passing thug? Or so low-life serial killer?" Tony cut in.

"Yeah, yeah, of course I did. But there has to be more. You weren't there, Tony. you didn't see what happened. I know there's more, there has to be. Why did he wink at me like that?" Bruce whispered to himself.

"Okay Bruce, I see it now. Welp, let's get started, I guess." Tony said as he started to shuffle through the scattered papers.

Bruce looked up at the brown haired boy and offered a small smile.

"Thanks." He whispered for the second time as he began shuffling through papers too.

At that moment Bruce had the utmost faith that they would get his justice for his parents' murder. That he would do some real good.

At that moment Tony watched Bruce's blue eyes worriedly and swore to himself that-at any coast- he wouldn't let Bruce fall into to the brink of insanity. Well, at least not without him.

AN-Wow, sometimes it's hard to remember that they're only seven and eight. Well I hope you liked this, it's been written for far, far long, but alas it is typed. Hallelujah~! It was kind of serious but what can ya do. Still, sorry again it took so long to do chapters but when you wait for WiFi, time gets the best of you. Again I hoped you liked this and thanks for everyone who stuck around for 3 months or if you're new and read all the way to this chapter, either way, I love and am thankful to you

And thank you so, so much Shadows Cursed for informing me of the mess up ^^"